Tallahassee, FL – The second day of competition at the FSU Relays boasts two regional qualifiers for Florida State. The Seminoles now have 18 individuals and three relay teams regionally qualified from both the men’s and women’s squads.

“The purpose of the FSU Relays for our teams is to prepare them for the ACC meet,” head coach Bob Braman said. “They are here to get a mark good enough to be considered for our ACC team or a national ranking, and from that standpoint we got a lot of that done in just one day. A lot of athletes improved their marks today and most are aiming for the conference championships.”

In women’s action, junior Heather Leblanc (Live Oak, FL/Suwannee) who was in fourth place after day one of the heptathlon, finished the multi-events strong on Friday and finished second overall with 4,443 points. LeBlanc had a personal best long jump of 17’10.75″ to finish first in the event.

“Heather [LeBlanc] had a really nice day in the heptathlon,” Braman said. “She did really well in all her events today.”

Two from the men’s squad earned regional qualifying marks today, junior and Tallahassee native Matt Wernke (Tallahassee, FL/Chiles) in the hammer throw and sophomore Javier Garcia-Tunon (Miami, FL/Belen Jesuit) in the 400 meter hurdles. Wernke’s first-place throw of 184’7″/56.26m is a collegiate best. Garcia-Tunon, or Javi as his teammates call him, finished first in the quarter hurdles in 52.23.

“We had a good day today,” Braman said. “I’m real excited for Matt [Wernke] and Javi [Garcia-Tunon]. Regional marks can be hard to get at a home meet because there isn’t that heighten excitement like you get on the road, so to get some regional marks on the first big day is pretty good.”

“Tomorrow we will be a little more active in hitting those qualifying standards because today we had some events that you simply cannot qualify in, like the 4×200 meter relay, because it’s a non-NCAA event. Also, some of our walk-on athletes did really well today which made for an overall very positive meet so far. But tomorrow is the bigger day for us with more opportunities to get those regional marks.”

The Seminoles will work for those regional marks as the last day of the FSU Relays gets underway Saturday, March 31. The first event of the day will be the men’s college discus at 10:00 a.m. There will also be a short celebration at 11:30 a.m. in honor of the future remodeling of the Mike Long Track Facility which will begin later this season.

Seminole Marketing will also be hosting KidsFest! from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. for all kids 12 and under. This special event is free and will feature games, relay races, picture with the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championship trophy, food, and much more.

As always, live results can be found by visiting HalfMileTiming.com or following the link from Seminoles.com